Kilmarnock boss calls for '90 minute' performance as they search for first win

Killie head north to face Dundee at the weekend looking to break their duck

Kilmarnock boss Derek McInnes has called on his team to deliver a performance over the entire 90 minutes this weekend as they look to pick up their first league win of the season when the visit Dundee on Saturday.

Killie have impressed in spells this term, but sit second bottom of the table with no wins and three points from their opening six games.

Last Saturday’s 3-3 home draw against Dundee United was a case in point of not producing the goods over the piece after they bounced back from a goal down to go 3-1 up entering the final stages.

But a Craig Sibbald goal on 79 minutes was added to by a Ross Graham penalty deep into injury-time with the gaffer admitting after the clash that there was a lack of calmness in the final moments.

He insists, though, that there was no need to read the riot act and has backed his side to come good.

Speaking to the media, McInnes said: “At half-time we were looking for a response, with these boys they’ve always had that. Sometimes you’d rather not have to always search for that from a losing position, but second half for 36/37 minutes it was outstanding from us.

“What happens at the end is a consequence of the situation, everyone is desperate to win the game. We take ourselves too deep from a long free-kick, we’re too deep with our line, go into a zonal system which we’d never normally do and three players go up for the header.

“That exuberance and people trying to take control is admirable in a way, but we need to be a wee bit calmer in that moment.

“Draws at home should feel like a defeat. We all felt that at the weekend and now it’s a case of looking back at the goals we conceded. It’s my job and my staff’s job to pick out the positives from it and there’s plenty of that.”

He added: “It’s the staff and players’ job now to search for that 90 minute performance. We’re never going to dominate a Premiership team for 90 minutes, but we can still be good enough to control what’s happening for longer periods.

“I feel as though at the minute we’re hitting such a good level at times and then doing things that aren’t us, giving teams a bit too much encouragement.”

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David Watson was the star of the show at Rugby Park against the Arabs as he came off the bench at half-time and netted twice within 15 minutes.

McInnes explained the decision to leave him out of the starting line-up for the first time in the league this campaign, and heaped praise on the Scotland under-21 star.

He said: “David is great, it was a tough decision to leave him out. We brought Brad back in and initially Kyle Vassell wasn’t going to be playing, he passed a fitness test late on.

“We were worried a wee bit about size and leadership but David responded brilliantly. He came on second half and it was exactly what the game needed, we needed contact in the middle of the park and needed to turn the ball over more.

“His first goal shows his technique, if that was other players people would be waxing lyrical even more about it. The second goal was a David Watson goal, his energy and desire gets him into these positions.”

He added: “David’s going to have a good career, I’ve been about long enough to know when a boy is going to do well.

“He does a lot of the game really well, he handles the ball, he’s decent in the air, he competes really well physically, he’s always been able to deal with that. The thing that will decide which level he gets to is how many goals he scores.

“You know he’s going to play games and improve, there’s also the understanding that he’s not going to be perfect at this moment in time and there’s still things he can tidy up, just like every player.

“But he’s trustworthy, responsible and I like that he doesn’t dwell too much on what he can’t do and he just sets about the task.”

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